


Denial

by Jouska_the_Deer (AngstAndAlliums)



Category: Sonic the Hedgehog (Video Games)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Gen, mild violence, torture mention
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-11
Updated: 2019-09-11
Packaged: 2020-10-14 07:15:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,181
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20596838
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AngstAndAlliums/pseuds/Jouska_the_Deer
Summary: After the recent defeat of Eggman following Sonic's escape from imprisonment on the Death Egg, GUN has tasked Shadow with informing Sonic that they have therapists available to see him should he feel the need to see them. As much as Sonic thinks he's perfectly fine, Shadow has good reason to believe otherwise.





	Denial

**Author's Note:**

> This is another repost from my Tumblr blog with a few minor changes. 
> 
> Here's where you can find the work on Tumblr: https://jouska-the-deer.tumblr.com/post/167819200659/denial
> 
> Mild warnings for descriptions of a destroyed populated area, brief mentions of torture, and some mild violence.

The wind howled as Shadow skated up the large hill, dodging charred trees and destroyed robots along the way.

This area had been terribly affected by Eggman’s presence. Had Sonic not stopped him a couple of days ago, the burnt landscape would have become a construction site for whatever Eggman desired. Thankfully, that didn’t happen. Less thankfully, the area still reeked of smoldering plants and stagnant water from a nearby collapsed town. At least the fires were dead now.

As Shadow reached the top of the hill, the town now coming into view, he finally saw the person he was sent all this way for. It was sheer luck that he was even here, considering how long ago he was sighted and how quickly he usually travels.

Angered screams and loud thuds echoed throughout the area, the source emanating from Sonic. He charged from tree to tree, spin dashing into their trunks and bouncing off, leaping to the next in a blue flash. Occasionally, he would stop to land a few punches and kicks to the charred wood, blackening his already dirty gloves and shoes even further.

It did not appear that he noticed Shadow’s arrival, which Shadow didn’t particularly care about. He was fine with allowing him to have his outburst, as there was nothing else he had to do at the moment. Plus, he figured Sonic would find a reason to fight him if he was still in this state, which would be a huge waste of time. So, Shadow stood with crossed arms as Sonic continued with his little rampage.

Charging up a dash, Sonic launched himself at a tree, taking it down with a loud crack. He rebounded off and watched it fall, a black cloud of dust rising from its impact. Then, in a flash, he was at the side of the summit overlooking the destroyed town.

Everything was in shambles. Buildings crumbled to their foundations, roads cracked and covered with toppled power lines and trees, pools and ponds filled with disgusting murky water that would never be safe to touch. This wasn’t the only town like this. This was all the cities, towns, and villages that Eggman had got to. That Sonic couldn’t stop him from destroying.

Another scream rang through the air as Sonic pulled his quills and fell to his knees. With a long whine, Sonic planted his hands on the ground in front of him, allowing some of his weight to shift to his arms. His limbs trembled as he gave into his worsening exhaustion, ready to lay there on the singed grass for as long as it took for his body and mind to stop screaming at him.

“Ahem.”

Sonic jolted upward, turning on his heel and facing Shadow with a cheery smile, or at least an attempt at one. Within a half-second, he was standing a few feet from him.

“Hey, Shadow! You need something?”

Soot covered most of Sonic’s fur, his gloves and socks an ashy grey. And not only were his quills covered in dust like the rest of his body, but they were also splayed and covered in debris. The fact that Sonic could possibly think that he could get away with acting fine in this state annoyed Shadow, but he ignored it.

“I’ve been sent here by GUN to inform you that they have a number of available therapists to see should you feel the need to talk to one. I suggest that you go. GUN will cover all the expenses.”

Sonic took a step back, his face contorted in discomfort.

“Yeah uh, no thanks. I’m alright.”

“Sure you are,” Shadow scoffed.

“You think I’m lying?!”

As his body tensed for a hypothetical fight, Sonic attempted an intimidating look. Shadow was not phased whatsoever.

“Would you consider what you were just doing as, ‘alright’?”

Letting out a huff, Sonic took a few steps away and crossed his arms.

“I was was a little mad about being stuck on that stupid Death Egg for a while, but I’m all good now.”

Shadow kept his voice soft and controlled.

“You spent six months alone in a cell, with records saying were tortured.”

Sonic jumped, his quills raising a small amount. However, he soon turned around, speaking in an annoyed manner with his arms gesturing wildly.

“You got that right! The food was so bland that burnt toast would have tasted better! And the whole place was a snore fest. Every day was a fight against relentless boredom. They didn’t even have TV!”

“And, there was nothing else that could have bothered you?”

Blue ears flicked as Sonic crossed his arms again.

“What? No. Nothing else happened. It was just really boring.”

A hint of concern was seen in Shadow’s expression.

“Are you sure?”

Sonic’s tone became noticeably stern.”

“Yes. Nothing happened.”

“Hmm…”

Shadow’s gaze shifted away, going silent for a moment.

“What?!” Sonic impatiently questioned.

Looking back at him, Shadow let a bit more of his concern make itself visible.

“Rouge recently found security footage of your time on the Death E-”

“-It wasn’t as bad as it looked! Okay?!”

His rushed words were filled with fear, rather than anger. While Shadow hated the interruption, he let it slide, for now.

“I didn’t see the footage,” he calmly informed.

“Oh.”

Sonic cleared his throat, smoothing his quills back and trying to look composed.

“Well uh, yeah. Nothing really happened.”

Shadow let out a tired sigh.

“Rouge requested that I give you a hug for her.”

Sonic snerked.

“What?” he chuckled.

“She was very distraught from the footage and wanted to give you a hug, but she’s too busy to do it herself.”

“Sorry, but I’m not all that into hugs.”

“And you think I am?”

“You can just tell her you gave me one if you need to.”

“She’ll know that I didn’t.”

He was beginning to feel annoyed.

“How?”

“She just can.”

That’s a dumb explanation. Sonic huffed.

“Well, then tell her I just didn’t want one.”

“She won’t be satisfied with that answer.”

Sonic was feeling thoroughly angered. Shadow had to go. Now.

“Why don’t you think for yourself instead of having her tell you what to do!? I know you don’t want to give me a hug, so just leave already!”

Shadow sharply inhaled, rightfully angered. But, he slowly let his breath out, trying to keep himself relaxed.

“I agreed with her that a hug may be helpful to you.”

Sonic groaned, his ears going back and his teeth flaring.

“I don’t need any help! I’m fine! Nothing happened to me!”

The air went silent, Sonic standing his ground and Shadow pausing in thought. Then, Shadow turned around, his air shoes lighting up.

“You know how to get ahold of GUN if you need anything.”

He was about to go when Sonic stopped him.

“Wait.”

Shadow looked over his shoulder.

“If you’re actually worried Rouge will know you didn’t give me a hug, you can give me a quick one just so you can say you did without lying.”

His air shoes dimmed and Shadow turned around, stepping forward and pulling Sonic into a hug.

A second passed.

“Alright, Shadow. I’m sure that’s good.”

Sonic tried stepping away, out of Shadow’s arms, but he maintained his grip. Blue ears went back, Sonic’s tone slightly annoyed.

“Shadow?”

He tried again, but he was locked in.

“Shadow? What are you doing?”

Not a word. He just stood there, his arms locked in place. Even statues weren’t this still and ungiving.

At that point, Sonic just huffed, accepting his fate until Shadow finally let go. Normally, being trapped like this would make him extremely uncomfortable, but he was just too tired to care anymore. The last couple days were tiring, well, more accurately, the last six months- ‘_Don’t think about that._’

Besides, if he was being honest, Sonic would admit that it was kind of comfy. Shadow wasn’t constricting him, just holding tight enough to make it so he couldn’t slip away. It wasn’t like the rib-crushing hugs Amy used to give, and it wasn’t as awkward either. Of course, it was still awkward. Sonic wasn’t lying when he said he wasn’t into hugs. But still, it was nice to finally have contact with another person after- ‘_Don’t think about that._’

Well, he did get a hug from Tails shortly after getting back. It was a little shorter than he would have liked, though. Maybe after he’s done checking in on the damage and pitching in on the effort to rebuild everything, he’ll go see him. That is if Shadow would let him go eventually! Seriously, what’s he doing?!

“How long are you gonna hold me hostage?! You’ve been hugging me forever now!”

No response, as expected.

Sonic sighed. He was too tired to fight his way out, the hug actually didn’t feel too terrible, and he was done helping out for the day. Other than getting back his personal space, there wasn’t really a reason to try and get away. But it was getting harder to think of things to occupy his mind while the time passed. Things other than-

Okay, maybe looking around would help. Except, there wasn’t really much to look at. Just burnt trees, singed hills, and what was left of the sunset. The sky was pretty much just a dull reddish purple, and he wasn’t going to see any stars anytime soon. There was so much smoke in the sky that stargazing was nearly impossible in some places. At least there was more to look at now than when he was-

Maybe thinking about friends would help. They always cheer him up! Well, except when they’re Shadow and STILL WON’T LET GO! Anyway, it was nice to see them all again. Tails apparently wasn’t feeling too great for a while, but he was definitely doing better now. Amy was distraught when he was first gone, but used her feelings as motivation to keep fighting. A little cheesy, but also pretty cool of her. What Sonic found most surprising was Knuckles leading the whole resistance, with a lot of help from Amy of course. Apparently, Silver showed up to warn Knuckles of all the bad stuff that was going to happen, and Knuckles just assumed the role as commander of the resistance. Speaking of Silver, it was nice to see him again.

See, that isn’t too hard. What was he worried about? This would be easy! Just think about his awesome friends until Shadow gets bored and lets go. He had a million friends to think about too! Like Vector and Espio and Charmy and Cream and Vanilla and Big and Rouge- uh, maybe it's best not think about her. She was sort of the person who got him into this mess. Though, it was doubtful that she wanted Shadow to give him this ridiculously long of a hug. Unless she really did feel that awful about- ‘_Don’t think about that._’

About what she saw on the security footage. ‘_Stop thinking about it._’ Everything that happened. ‘_Nothing Happened._’ For an entire six months. ‘_It was just really boring._’ While Eggman took over. ‘_Stop._’ Leaving him in a cell. ‘_It didn’t happen._’ Alone with nobody to talk to. ‘_I wasn’t too lonely._’ Except when his robots would show up. ‘_It wasn’t that bad._’ Show up to- ‘_It’s over! I’m fine now!_’ To- ‘_Why am I still thinking about this…_’ To- ‘_…To make my life a nightmare…_’

The sky was almost completely dark now. It was getting cold, but the wind had died down a lot. Silence took over until it was broken by a short sniff.

Sonic’s eyes burned, tears welling up in the corners. His breath was shaky and harsh, his body trembling. A tear slid down his cheek, alerting Sonic of his current situation. He was crying. He was crying and Shadow was right there. This was embarrassing. He had to escape now.

He pushed back against Shadow’s grip. It didn’t do anything. Shadow was too strong, and Sonic too tired.

Sonic gave up, falling forward and wrapping his arms around Shadow for support. More tears rolled down his cheeks as he began to cry openly, his sobs louder and breaths heavier. Even if he could back away, there wasn’t a point anymore. He let himself cry since he couldn’t stop it anyway.

After a while, his sobs softened and tears stopped falling. Sonic wiped his eyes and nose with his dirty glove, probably leaving gross black marks on his face, but he didn’t care. He was too tired to care.

Once again, he tried backing away, this time without much effort put into it. Finally, Shadow let him free, and Sonic took a few sluggish steps away. Without much thought, he let himself fall to the ground, his quills absorbing most of the shock. Most, not all, as the sudden stop did make him grunt with mild pain. He laid there, staring up at the greyish purple sky until he heard something. Wait, did Shadow just sit down?

He pushed himself up and into a sitting position, noticing that yes, Shadow did sit down a few feet from him. Sonic huffed in annoyance.

“Seriously. What are you doing?”

“The same thing Rouge did for me.”

Oh, so now he can talk? Took him long enough. Well, while he was finally speaking, might as well try and figure out what was going on.

“And what did she do?”

“Help me feel better.”

Sonic rolled his eyes.

“You aren’t exactly Mr. Sunshine and Rainbows you know.”

“That doesn’t matter.”

“Okay, sure. What are you gonna do, hug me again?”

“I’m going to sit here until you decide to do what you need to feel better.”

He rolled his eyes again, huffing with annoyance. Shadow retained his neutral expression.

“You could get up and leave at any moment,” Shadow stated. “I’m not stopping you.”

Silence, then a groan followed by Sonic turning away from him.

It was completely dark now. While the stars and moon did add a small amount of light, it was heavily diluted by the smoke in the sky. At least Sonic was able to see fairly well in the dark, and Shadow had near-perfect night vision. Not that it mattered all too much at the moment, as they were currently sitting on the hill with nothing to look at.

Sonic thought about leaving. If Shadow wasn’t lying, he really could just get up and leave… Though, for some reason, he didn't really want to. Maybe it was the fatigue. Maybe he just felt lazy. Or maybe he knew that he needed help. ‘_I don’t need any help. I’m fine._’

He glanced over at Shadow.

Neutral expression. Arms crossed. Doing nothing. Of course.

By now, Sonic’s anger had mostly cooled down. But boredom was starting to set in, and Sonic definitely didn’t want to deal with feeling bored. Okay, time to say something, anything, just to push the boredom away. He did have a question about the whole situation, and Shadow did seem more open to answering stuff now.

“So, is this really what Rouge did? Just sit there and wait for you to do something?”

“Yes.”

“And it worked.”

“Mmm hmm.”

Sonic let out an annoyed sigh.

“Well, I’m not you. What makes you think that what you’re trying will work the same on me?”

“I know you want to feel better, but you’re too stubborn to admit that you need help. I just have to wait until you stop denying it.”

“I don’t need any help!” Sonic growled. “Nothing’s wrong! I’m fine!”

“Hmm…”

Shadow simply continued to sit there in silence, with Sonic doing the same.

Boredom started to set in again. While Sonic definitely didn’t want to talk to Shadow more, there wasn’t much else for him to do. That is unless he decided to leave, but he knew he needed help- ‘_I don’t need any help._’

“So uh, what did you do?”

“Hmm?”

He briefly considered not repeating himself. But, might as well clarify and continue talking, otherwise, he’d just be left with his thoughts again.

“If this is what Rouge did with you, what did you end up doing?”

“I went to a therapist as she asked.”

“Oh.”

Sonic briefly looked away, thinking for a moment, then looked back.

“You don’t exactly seem like someone that’d just go to therapy.”

“I wasn’t. But I needed to go, and it helped ease some of my stress.”

It was so odd. Seeing Shadow talking about anything that could make him look like less than the perfect being. Talking about how he needed to see a therapist, and how it actually helped. It was sort of comforting. Knowing that even Shadow could admit that he couldn’t deal with his feelings on his own. But…

“Can’t I just try to get over what happened? I’m sure I will eventually.”

“You don’t ‘just get over’ things like that.” He sighed, looking off into the distance. “You can choose to let your experiences affect your actions, but you have no control over how they affect your thoughts. No matter how much you try to stop thinking about what you’ve been through, it’ll stick with you forever.”

Shadow stood up, looking down at Sonic, who had his eyes locked on him.

“So you can keep pretending everything is fine, or you can accept the help that’s being offered to you.”

Slowly, Sonic’s gaze lowered to the ground.

Shadow did have a point. ‘_No he doesn’t._’ Sonic could already tell that he wasn’t going to stop thinking about what happened anytime soon. ‘_I will eventually._’ And maybe talking to a professional about everything might help. ‘_It might not._’

He looked back up at Shadow.

“What if the therapist I see doesn’t help?”

“Then you can find a new one. GUN has multiple, and it’s doubtful that all of them would fail to do their job.”

“I…”

“I could also see if the therapist I had is available to you.”

“…”

His eyes were on the ground again.

This could finally help. ‘_I don’t need help._’ Not only with what happened on the Death Egg, but with all the other things he’s gone through as well. ‘_I’ll get over all that eventually._’ It could help with the stress. ‘_I’m not that stressed._’ It could help with the constant fear. ‘_I have every right to worry about my friends!_’ It could help with the nightmares. ‘_They aren’t that bad._’ It could help make dealing with everything a little easier. ‘_I don’t need help…_” It could help with all the guilt. ‘_I…_’ It could help.

‘_I… I need help._’

Sonic let out a long, shaky breath, pushing himself off the ground and standing up. He paused for a moment, then looked up at Shadow.

“Alright… I’ll go.”

The corner of Shadow’s mouth lifted into a soft smile.

“I’ll make some calls to see when everyone is available.”

As Shadow lifted his communicator, Sonic released a short relieved sigh. He too softly smiled, feeling a small amount of relief.

“Thanks.”


End file.
